Manchester United announce Ralf Rangnick won't stay as consultant

Posted Monday, May 30, 2022 by ESPN

Manchester United have announced that Ralf Rangnick will not stay at the club in a consultancy position because of his commitment to coaching the Austria national team.

Rangnick, 63, took over as interim manager at United in November but was unable to rescue their season. They finished sixth, with their lowest points tally (58) in the Premier League era, and failed to qualify for next season's Champions League.

A statement from the Premier League club said: "We would like to thank Ralf Rangnick for his efforts as interim manager over the past six months.

"By mutual agreement, Ralf will now focus solely on his new role as manager of the Austria national team and will not therefore be taking up a consultancy role at Old Trafford.

"We would like to wish Ralf the best of luck in this next chapter of his career."

Ralf Rangnick's time at Manchester United has ended.

Incoming boss Ten Hag would not be drawn on Rangnick's position with the club when asked during his unveiling if he would welcome the 63-year-old's consultancy role next season.

"That's on the club," Ten Hag said earlier this week.

His tenure began with a 3-2 Premier League win against top four rivals Arsenal in December, but he also oversaw United's exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Middlesbrough, a Champions League round-of-16 exit against Atletico Madrid and several humbling results in the Premier League including 4-0 defeats against Liverpool and Brighton and a 4-1 loss to Manchester City.

The former Schalke and Hoffenheim coach was open about United's failures and said Ten Hag must be given time to overhaul the squad.

He also said his request for a striker at the end of the January transfer window was turned down by the club despite losing Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood during that period. Rangnick said that his wishlist included Porto's Luis Diaz, who later joined Liverpool, River Plate forward Julian Alvarez and Fiorentina's Dusan Vlahovic, who signed for Juventus, but that the club failed to act.

Austria kick off their Nations League campaign with Rangnick in charge on June 3 against Croatia before taking on Denmark and France.